


Vertigo

by Venutian



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: G/T, Gen, Giant/Tiny, Riddlerbots - Freeform, Shrinking, it is being helpful, the riddlerbot is doing its best ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-12-19 15:52:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11901030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Venutian/pseuds/Venutian
Summary: Edward returns to his factory for the first time since being reduced to just under six inches in height. Learning to trust and rely on the Riddlerbots to help him with the adjustment isn't going to be easy.





	Vertigo

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I’m working on some longer projects but I really wanted to crack open this new account and get something published. This will likely later fit into a larger AU, however, I am terrible at keeping fanfic promises (and am currently VERY busy in my everyday life) so for now it can be assumed a standalone work. 
> 
> I know it's a very... OUT THERE kind of premise but I'm just kind of rolling with it ya know :) no shame but kinda shame but like it's out here now so oh well

It was as the wind knocked Edward onto his back that he regretted that he’d been asked to be dropped off a couple of blocks away from his base of operations. Secrecy of location wasn’t even at play; Jonathan had been there a number of times already and anyways the revolving door of Riddlerbots did little to mask the location. No, this had been a matter of dignity… something that Edward had been feeling a rather lack of lately. Jonathan had been a kind and gracious enough host, but there was just something about strolling up to his property on his own two feet. That was what he’d thought when he was sitting in the passenger seat, before he’d been made aware of the conditions outside. For a late August night in Gotham it was actually surprisingly pleasant, but at his size, Edward offered little resistance to the periodic bursts of cold air.

Edward picked himself back up, brushing off his bright orange jumpsuit as he did so. He’d already commissioned some specially-tailored suits by one of the city’s finest discrete designers, but not even great necessity could move him up on the list. It seemed that every shady figure in Gotham just so happened to need a new set of threads and working under the guise of needing ‘doll clothes’ did not exactly put off a sense of urgency. Thankfully, it was nowhere near the strangest request on the docket and so the requisition had raised no red flags (Edward was still keen on keeping his recently-acquired stature to a need-to-know basis), but it didn’t get him out of the dirty asylum rags any quicker. At least it was something to look forward to. He’d take it as he saw it.

The way to the facility looked different from the low angle. There was a moment when, confused by both the darkness and the impossibly long stretches of sidewalk, Edward feared he may have taken a wrong turn and would have to retrace his painfully small steps. But then, right as he was about to turn around and head the other way, he saw something glowing through the darkness. A green sphere, pulsing and humming as if a light source of its own, and two smaller green dots floating above. The mysterious sight raised the hair on the back of Edward’s neck and he took a few steps back, squinting as if to make out the shapes better. The streets were empty; if there was any trouble he would have to face it on his own. But as the light drew nearer, the green glow illuminated some of the features around the ‘floating’ shape and revealed the mystery figure. It was a lone Riddlerbot, ambling down the sidewalk in Edward’s direction. What an electric stroke of luck; whether or not he’d been walking the right way towards the facility, he should be able to hitch a ride with the bot.

Really, Edward’s entire strategy moving forward revolved around the use (USE, not dependence) of the Riddlerbots. They had always been a major key to forward progress; as much as Edward hated to admit it, couldn’t possibly do everything by hand ALL of the time. At least the robots, built by his hand, were… as close as was possible to the next best thing. And now that Edward had a reduced stature, he knew he would find it even more difficult to keep to schedule. Even more difficult was the realization that it simply was not efficient to spend hours walking the massive floor plan of the facility. If it were to become a long-term… situation… more adequate accommodations could be arranged, but that would take time that was not currently on the table. The short-term solution was proven viable as soon as Edward noticed how quickly the Riddlerbot ahead of him was approaching. Why not use the tools he’d already built? It couldn’t damage his pride any more than it already had been and they’d already been designed to be obedient. With the help of the Riddlerbots, Edward could be mobile and resume all of his duties without worry.

The unaware and likely task-driven Riddlerbot had almost reached Edward and he called out to it, resorting to waving his arms and jumping like a fool only when it didn’t react to his presence. It was dangerously close now and the thought of being trampled blared like a red alert in Edward’s mind. This did not deter him; if he lost the bot now he might lose any chance to find the facility before daybreak. He began yelling at the top of his lungs, shouting obscenities until his throat hurt and swayed from the lightheadedness. It was only as Edward paused to catch his breath that he realized the Riddlerbot had finally stopped. He had to step back and crane his neck to look up at it, the metal limbs stretching far beyond his comfortable field of vision. It was almost dizzying; Edward had seen shorter skyscrapers and to think… THIS was something that he’d built. Maybe not by hand, but it looked like a common model and their proportions had never seemed staggering before. If anything, he thought they could’ve been a little more intimidating. If anyone else could see them from this perspective, however, they’d find his robots absolutely terrifying. That was an idea, but an idea for another day and maybe even another rogue.

The Riddlerbot stared unblinkingly down at his small form as if trying to analyze him or process the noisy tirade that had transpired. Now that he was quiet, however, it seemed to decide that Edward was nothing that affected the mission it was on. Limbs shifted, posture changed. One foot, larger in length than Edward was tall, raised and lifted over the smaller man’s form. Edward was rooted in place, momentarily frozen by both the shock of the movement and the fear that any movement might put him in the path of the descending metal. This was not the case; the Riddlerbot easily eased itself over Edward’s form and would have continued on had he not resumed the shouting. This time it stopped, swiveling around so that it could stare directly down at Edward’s form. He wasn’t sure if it truly recognized him or if it was just reacting to the confusing stimuli. There was a way to test this, and that was to give it a command. No Riddlerbot would follow the demands of anyone except Edward and anyone who’d ever attempted to break that chain of command was no longer in commission.

“Why don’t you…” But what could he request that was simple and didn’t increase the feeling of immense risk he was already saturated with? The usual test task was to fetch him something but on this unfamiliar stretch of sidewalk, there was nothing easily retrieved. Then, as Edward felt the ache in his own legs, the idea came to him. “Sit down.”

It did.

Relief washed over Edward, even as the massive limbs contorted only feet from his form. The Riddlerbot was aware of and listening to him, it wouldn’t abandon him here and it certainly wouldn’t grind his body into the pavement. Intentionally, anyways. The robot was slouched over casually with its arms resting on its knees, almost leaning over Edward’s form. Eyes locked, Edward could feel nothing but awe in the size and pure PRESENCE of what he usually considered a fairly mundane being. The hair on the back of his neck had yet to lie flat and it had nothing to do with the electricity crackling within the Riddlerbot’s belly.

“Give me your hand,” Edward instructed, straightening his posture in an attempt to retain command of the situation. He didn’t believe the Riddlerbot would disobey, but it was an exercise in pride. The bot did as asked, sliding its hand palm-up along the sidewalk towards Edward. This movement produced a scraping noise that Edward couldn’t help but flinch away from, his newfound sensitivity to sharp sounds ever-present.

Now that the large hand was in front of him, Edward’s confidence about climbing aboard faltered. There was very little inviting about the cold appendage, even though many of its features resembled that of a human’s. It was unforgiving; one wrong calculation on the robot’s end and Edward’s bones could be snapped, or his chest could be squeezed until he suffocated, or… well… he’d already given much thought to his recently developed vulnerabilities—to hands and otherwise. But then, was he really in any more danger than when he’d trusted actual humans to do the same? Edward’s Riddlerbots were designed with some human qualities and abilities yet were calm and uncalculating; they were much less likely to drop or otherwise hurt him. And then there was the fact that the Riddlerbots were not entirely unfeeling. They had been built with cutting edge sensor technology that Edward himself had engineered, allowing tactile signals to be interpreted similarly to real human touch. This had proven to be of the utmost value when it came to building delicate structures, trophies, and other detail-oriented or dexterity-involved projects. It allowed the Riddlerbots to ‘think’ for themselves without every small detail needing to be calculated and programmed for manually. Usually, this was good because Edward could spend less time giving commands to each robot individually and control rather the goals of groups as a whole. But now, it meant that the Riddlerbot would be able to sense whether it was holding Edward too softly or tightly and the chances of it actually dropping him, all things considered, seemed quite slim.

He would be safe in the Riddlerbot’s hand.

Edward stepped up, into the robot’s flat palm. He could practically feel the sensors responding to his presence, fingers slightly raising and cupping around his form. The surface underneath Edward’s feet shifted slightly, testing his weight. A soft glow spread from the robot’s fingertips and ran up its arm, trailing to the central processing center. After this, the Riddlerbot cocked its head slightly, as if trying to make sense of the situation. It lowered its face closer to its hand, trying to get a better look at him. Thought processes written on its wires: it sounds like Edward, it mostly looks like Edward, but could this actually be Edward? Was it possible for this to be Edward? The confusion would be easy to clear.

“Yes, it’s me,” Edward droned, quickly growing tired of introductions. Hadn’t he programmed them better? It was true that this was likely a rudimentary robot, meant to carry out orders and do very little thinking on its own. This line of thought brought forth the venom before Edward could bite back the words. “Surely even a cheap factory grunt such as yourself can figure that out for yourself.” Upon hearing Edward’s words, the Riddlerbot emitted a low, sad-sounding beep. Immediately the statement was regretted; time behind bars and the undignified treatment as of late had made Edward more bitter but it wasn’t the Riddlerbot’s fault. It was just curious and curiosity bred discovery. Could he even blame it for being inquisitive about Edward’s physical state? There would be no apology (he was hesitant to teach them such things in case it influenced their willingness to perform certain tasks) but he decided to try to be more actively… soft. To those whose service he was currently reliant on, at least. For now.

“I need you to take me home.”

The Riddlerbot was quick to follow the command… too quick. The hand rocketed skyward as the robot stood, a pace that left Edward sprawled on his back.

“Easy, easy!” He cried out, fingers digging into any sort of hold he could find. Edward’s head spun with vertigo and he had to wait until the nausea was gone before sitting up again. The Riddlerbot had paused when it heard him shout and was waiting for further instruction, unsure of what he’d meant with the vague command. “Why don’t you use some of that equipment I gave you and try not to kill me for once?” All he’d wanted to do was ask the robot to be more gentle, to please have the sense not to attempt to launch him to the moon, but those hadn’t been the words he’d gotten out. So much for trying to go the ‘softer’ route. To be fair, Edward had never asked anyone to be more careful when it came to his own well-being, not even… well. It didn’t matter. The damage had already been done.

The Riddlerbot looked down at him for a minute and Edward could see his words processing behind all those sheets and wires. If it had interpreted the question as an insult, it did not act with any human indignation. It did not get defensive, nor did it spitefully punt Edward across the street. It just started walking.

If there was one thing to be said, it was that the experience was much more pleasant than anything Edward had experienced so far. Humans were unstable; they shook and bobbed and wobbled as they walked, which made being carried nauseating and like an amusement park ride gone bad. However, the Riddlerbot was steady; constant in elevation and locked into a comfortable walking pace. It had turned around and had headed back from where Edward had seen it come, which was immensely satisfying because it meant that his intuition had been right after all. The smugness drew him up onto his knees, leaning forward in the palm as far as he dared. In response to the movement, the fingers snapped upward, curling like a guard rail around Edward’s form. The smaller man was knocked back onto his rear in a huff, unable to even complain because he knew it’d been for his own good. The last thing he needed was to tumble out of the hands he’d molded from his own.

Edward twisted to look up at the Riddlerbot’s face again. It was staring straight ahead as it walked, glowing green eyes fixed on the sidewalk ahead. Now that he was focused on the robot itself, Edward could tell that there was something… off. Though the hand was perfectly steady, the Riddlerbot had an uncharacteristic sway to its stride and there was an almost inaudible grinding noise that indicated some sort of mechanical failure. Edward wrapped his arms around one of the massive digits, poking his head out between the robot’s thumb and forefinger in an attempt to discern where the weak spot was. The vantage was dizzying; harsh green glow attacking his field of view as the long limbs swayed below. Nauseous, Edward quickly sat back and tugged at the fabric around his collar. He’d been able to locate the issue of course—the wires around the Riddlerbot’s knee were getting caught in a dent in the metal—but made a very strong mental note to never do that again. It was right as Edward was going to address the ‘injury’ that the Riddlerbot eased to a stop.

They were home.

It wasn’t like he’d never seen it before. In fact, the entrance to the facility was something that Edward rarely paid any attention to at all. But now, as the Riddlerbot passed through the threshold and entered the hall that he’d walked many times before, Edward was overwhelmed to the point of silence. It was all so… big. The rooms passed and the ceilings vaulted, sounds of machinery and working parts echoing off every wall and bouncing right into his eardrums. His head pounded, insides churned. It was too much all at once and for a moment Edward wanted nothing more than to curl up in his old cell and pretend nothing had ever happened. It was all he could do to call out to the Riddlerbot, raising his voice over the background racket.

“My office!” It was the quietest place he could think of, even though he’d wanted to head straight for the command center. Apparently diving back into operations was going to be out of the question, at least until he could find a way to numb his newly refined senses. Without any further direction, the Riddlerbot began ambling in the right direction. They passed several other robots along the way, none of which even glanced in Edward’s direction. He hated feeling so… ignored, but maybe it was for the better. None of them should have to see him that way; weak, dressed in rags, cowering away from every crash and bang in the factory.

The office wasn’t close enough. When the Riddlerbot finally crossed through the doorway, Edward could do nothing but breathe a sigh of relief and ask to be set down on the old desk against the far wall. The monitor was dusty and the power button far over his head. Any and all hopes of accessing his controls from the outdated machine were dashed when Edward realized he couldn’t possibly operate a keyboard that was just under three times his size. So he would have to get to the command center after all. Disheartened, Edward rubbed at his temples. Too many thoughts, questions, and anxieties swam through his mind, all jumbled together and preventing any real coherent ideas from shining through. They were what-if’s, senseless worries, and yet as the minutes ticked by, Edward could feel the despair once left behind in Arkham slithering back through his veins.

What if his situation was permanent? There were so many… problems with that on its own, even just ignoring his career for a moment. Edward would be able to get by, of course, but thrive? Forget working with the best, he would be forced into a life of scrounging up scraps and ‘making due with what he had’.

What if someone decided to target him because of it? Edward could hold out for a little while; he’d built up enough supplies and defenses before his time in the clank to ensure reasonable safety but… there was always that seed of doubt. With Edward no longer at the top of his game (or top of anything, for that matter), any number of things could go wrong! What if the entire computer system crashed and he couldn’t get to the right console in time? What if his seemingly endless army of Riddlerbots were to break down, or be broken down, and leave him without a means of assistance? This question wormed its way past his defenses, clouding over every other possible worry.

They were so good to him. Edward turned to look back at the one that had brought him there, the one that remained rooted in place without even a command to stay put. It was looking down at him, waiting. Watching. Almost unnervingly closely.

“And what are YOU looking at?” Edward had half a mind to trade this simple model in for one of the more advanced robots at his facility (and it would’ve certainly been easy to track one down), but the effort wasn’t worth the energy. All he needed was a drone to carry him around, anyways. He might as well leave the others to keeping track of and running the facility… so this might as well be the one, even if it meant a little extra maintenance. “You and I are going to be inseparable for a while.” Hopefully not too long of a while, but that was out of his hands for the time being. “I want to have a look at that knee.”

With a degree of uncertainty, the Riddlerbot sat down on a nearby chair and kicked its leg up onto the desk. It hadn’t exactly been what Edward had in mind, but it was easier to comply than try to make the robot understand. From the desk, he could not reach the damaged area. The only thing Edward could do then was to scale the leg and do more of an… on-site diagnostic.

“Don’t move.” The last thing he needed was a twitchy Riddlerbot. Edward waited for a moment to see if it would give him any sign of comprehension, but it seemed to be following instructions already. Fine. That was fine.

Edward dug his fingers underneath the edges of metal plating on the Riddlerbot’s shin, feeling out the depth of the holds. Laid out on the desk, the tallest point of the appendage was just above eye level. It wasn’t so bad, but the last thing Edward wanted was to fall back. He was easily able to scale the height and crawl to the area of interest. Twisting his way under the metal plating, Edward pried back all of the protective covers and fingered the wires underneath. As he’d observed earlier, the metal was dented, restricting some movement and rubbing up against the circuits. The largest of the imperfections had to have resulted from a great deal of force, but he couldn’t imagine where it might have come from. Now that he could run his hands along the metal, Edward detected a great number of minute dents and scratches in the plating.

He was hit then with the individuality of the robot before him. Of course Edward was able to recognize a couple dozen individual bots; those ones had either been designed that way or had specific markings (purposely or otherwise) that stood them apart from the masses. But this one? Had it not been for his rather small stature, Edward never would have noticed anything different about this particular robot. Its design was mass-produced, its intelligence sub-par, just all-around sort of dispensable. That being said, this Riddlerbot had a unique set of experiences, different from every other bot he’d ever produced. It was completely unique. All of them were.

Edward was so overwhelmed with affection towards his creations and with the weight of what he’d unintentionally achieved that his foot slipped from its hold. One second he was on the knee, another he was free-falling. Before he could even process what had happened, something closed around his form. He’d been snatched from the danger before he’d even had time to scream. Disoriented and body contorted around itself, Edward pushed against the fingers that encased him. After rotating and raising, the digits loosened and green-tinted light filtered in. Edward found himself on his back in the center of the hand, the Riddlerbot holding him close to its face. They stared at each other wordlessly, shock fading to relief and embarrassment.

“Thank you…” He coughed, propping himself and looking away. Almost as if sensing his discomfort, the Riddlerbot lowered Edward to the desk and gently deposited him onto the wooden surface. Though his legs still shook with adrenaline, Edward managed to pull himself to his feet. He could do nothing else but stare incredulously at the giant robot, finding himself yet again surprised at its actions. A strange and not entirely unwelcome feeling of warmth was spreading through him. The anxieties he’d felt about his size and the state of his operations were still there, but dulled. The last couple of days had been stressful but now? Now, all things considered, his affairs were looking manageable. Maybe coming home hadn’t been such a bad idea after all.

Edward gave the Riddlerbot a thumbs-up and the robot returned the gesture. He wondered hollowly if it understood what the motion meant. Did it matter? Not really. Somehow, it helped. After the events of the last couple of days, that was really the best he could hope for.

The robot reached over Edward’s form and pushed the power button on both the computer and the monitor, the machine slowly beginning to whir back to life. Dust shook off the tower and Edward had to take a step back, running a hand through his hair. He’d have to fashion himself some new goggles…

But for now there was more important work to be done and the Riddlerbot had already shown some willingness to help him do it. It was another dent in his pride, but Edward knew he’d have to accept the help if he wanted anything to get done. He stalked over to the mouse, giving it a few test shoves. It would work. He wasn’t going to like it, but it would work.

“Alright,” Edward sighed, squinting as the monitor flashed blue, then dimmed to black. “You’re going to have to man the keyboard. Let’s see what everyone’s been up to.” The robot shifted in the chair, moving so that it had better access to the aforementioned controls. It waited for the password prompt, then began typing in the key. Edward clicked on the enter symbol.

They were in.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I know there could've been a bit MORE g/t content (or...content in general) but this was mostly just to get my feet wet and all. I haven't ever written for Arkham Riddler (because I don't think I really have a feel for his tone) but obviously if I wanted the robots it kind of... comes with the territory lol. So this is what it will be
> 
> Also! He didn't forget about fixing the Riddlerbot's knee, he just doesn't have the proper tools on hand to do it right then and there.


End file.
